During his lifetime, Simon Bolivar led Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela to independence from Spain. He helped lay the democatic foundations of much of Hispanic America. Most of these countries celebrate Bolivar on their coinage, but Venezuela does one better than that -- they name their coin denominations after him!

Venezuela has been minting coins like these in silver since 1873. There are many variations, and many of the variations have Simon Bolivar on the front. This page applies only to coins with the pattern in our picture (shield with leaves and ribbon) on the back. We have another page (click here) that cover centavos denominations before 1879.

These coins have taken on good numismatic (coin collector) value, especially for coins dated before 1925. After 1936 the composition changed from silver to nickel.

The coins in 1/2, 1, 2, and 5 bolivar denominations all look very similar to each other, but the size is different. There are 10 and 20 bolivar denominations minted in gold, and the portrait looks right instead of left. This page applies to silver bolivares only.

Below we present a summary of approximate catalog values for coins dated 1879 to 1936. These are catalog values, and must be properly interpreted using the tenets outlined on our Important Terminology page. Be sure to read our terminology page; you can not figure a coin's value without it. For reference, the coin in our picture grades about halfway between 'worn' and 'average circulated.'

1/2 BOLIVAR, GR 2.5, 17 mm diameter, 0.067 troy ounces silverworn: $20 US dollars approximate catalog valueaverage circulated: $50well preserved: $200fully uncirculated: $500coins dated after 1911 and before 1919 are worth less than these figures, about 1/3 the valuecoins dated after 1918 are worth about 1/5 these valuescoins dated 1888 catalog at $600 in average circulated conditioncoins dated 1889 catalog at $4000 in average circulated condition

1 BOLIVAR, GR 5, 22 mm diameter, 0.134 troy ounces silverworn: $30 US dollars approximate catalog valueaverage circulated: $70well preserved: $200fully uncirculated: $600coins dated after 1902 and before 1924 are worth less than these figures, about 1/4 the valuecoins dated after 1923 are worth very little, about $3 in average circulated conditioncoins dated 1887, 1888, and 1889 catalog around $400 in average circulated condition

2 BOLIVARES, GR 10, 27 mm diameter, 0.269 troy ounces silverworn: $30 US dollars approximate catalog valueaverage circulated: $70well preserved: $200fully uncirculated: $850coins dated after 1903 and before 1914 are worth less than these figures, about 1/3 the valuecoins dated after 1913 (except 1930) are worth small amounts, about $8 in average circulated conditioncoins dated 1886, 1888, and 1889 catalog at $250 in average circulated conditioncoins dated 1930 are somewhat scarce and catalog at $15 in average circulated condition

Coin: 6513, Genre: Colonizers and ColoniesRequested by: james, Sun, 09-Jan-2011 03:49:53 GMTAnswered by: Paul, Mon, 22-Apr-2013 12:16:24 GMTReviewed by CoinQuest. Appraisal ok., Mon, 16-Mar-2015 14:22:35 GMTRequester description: 1924 it has a head facing left and it says bolivar libertador below the head it has the letters BARRE on the other side it says estados unidos de venezula and gram .5 1924 LEI 835 and a shield with a wreath like thing in the middle there is a running horse on the shield.